Penn State football’s beat reporters capped off their week of players and coach interviews heading into Saturday’s home opener against Bowling Green by talking with safeties coach and co-defensive coordinator Anthony Poindexter.
Poindexter’s unit stole the show defensively in Saturday’s 34-12 win at West Virginia, with KJ Winston (12 tackles, forced fumble) receiving conference and national recognition and Jaylen Reed (9 tackles, recovered fumble) being just as good.
Here’s everything Poindexter had to say about his group, from the starters to those cutting their teeth.
ON HOW PENN STATE S WINSTON, REED AND ZAKEE WHEATLEY HAVE GROWN
Well, you know the biggest part was just the intensity and the aggression they played with. I thought they were locked in, they knew the gameplan, they played off each other well. But I can’t say that I didn’t expect it. All three of them have played a lot of football here and they know what they mean to this team and this defense and how they play and the success we will have the way they play.
ON REPUTATION OF THE PENN STATE SAFETIES, HOW HE FEELS ABOUT THE ROOM AS A WHOLE
We have to play the games, but it’s a credit to the kids and how they work. Like I said, all three of these kids (Reed, Wheatley, Winston) have been in our program for three-plus years and they worked in the offseason, they work during the season, they practice hard, they practice the right way. Like I said, it’s just a credit to them and the focus that they come to work with every day.
ON PENN STATE S ZAKEE WHEATLEY
I don’t think, a year ago, he had the season or production that he really wanted to have. We had a long talk at the end of the season and we addressed a few things with him that we thought he could get better at. Instead of moping and pouting, he went out and you could tell during winter workouts and spring ball that he had a different mindset. Obviously, (he’s) very skillful, he’s a very talented kid and he had to tweak a few things like we all do as you start to grow as a player. To his credit, he tweaked a few things, and he just, you can see the fruits of his labor.”
ON PENN STATE S JAYLEN REED’S FIT IN THE ‘LION ROLE’
He’s unique player in that he can play on the second level and play on the third level. Obviously, he’s a talented blitzer, he’s a talented cover guy. He has a lot of facets of his game that I don’t think a lot of people were aware of. Obviously, we are, but he plays with emotion, he’s a very smart football player, probably one of the smartest football players I’ve ever been around when it comes to just retaining knowledge and kind of knowing what the other team is about to do. He’s just doing a really nice job.”
ON PENN STATE SAFETIES COMPETING AGAINST GOOD RUNNING BACKS/TIGHT ENDS
Iron sharpens iron. We’re very fortunate here at Penn State that we, especially on the defensive side of the ball, we get to go against very talented players that our offense has on their side of the ball. And anytime you’re going against Kaytron (Allen) and Nick (Singleton) and Tyler Warren, Theo (Johnson), Brenton Strange, our guys have been against pros every day. So when we show up to the game, we feel prepared. Yes, Bowling Green has some very talented players, but luckily we have some talented players that we can go against in the spring, go against in fall camp, even go against each other in a week of practice that can get us prepared for the speed of which we’re going to have to play.
ON DEFENSE’S SUCCESS AGAINST WEST VIRGINIA
I just think you have to give the credit to the kids for buying in. You know, in college football, change happens every year and our kids bat an eye. Coach Manny (Diaz) had an opportunity to be a head coach (at Duke) and the kids were excited for him. Coach (Tom) Allen coming in being a former head coach but being a longtime defensive coordinator, you know, they’re different people. But our kids, they’ve bought into the message. They’ve bought into how Coach Allen does things and our kids just like to play football. They like to play hard-nosed football. Coach Franklin had definitely created a culture even before I got here that our kids work, they respect coaching, they want to get better and they come to work that way every day. So we have some really talented players. But all the time when you have talented players, if they don’t mesh or they all aren’t pulling in the same direction, you don’t get the results. So I think our kids have bought into jus thow we do business here, bought into how coach Allen does business, and we’re just working as one. Obviously,it’s Game One, so we still have a lot of things we can improve on. But as long as they have the right mindset, we should be ok.
ON DEJUAN LANE
Obviously, you can see, he has the measurables. He has the speed. Through the summertime, he started to come on. During fall camp you really saw it. Like, ‘Hey, man, this kid has a chance.’ I kind of put him in the mold of like how we brought along J Reed, how we brought along KJ (Winston) as true freshmen playing, and quite frankly, we need him. I mean, our depth, we don’t have a ton of proven depth right now in that room, but he just, he’s mature enough to know what he’s doing. Obviously, he has a long way to go, but if he just keeps watching those older guys, they helped speed up his process. But he has all the physical tools to be a really good player here.
ON DIFFERENCES BETWEEN PAST SAFETY GROUPS
The beauty of having this group now is they had a chance to play behind (Jaquan) Brisker. They had a chance to play behind Tig (Ji’Ayir Brown) and Keaton (Ellis) and learn how we do business and learn how… you know, me coming in new three years ago, I mean I have different expectations for a room than maybe the previous coach. But like I said, these guys like to work, they really… the thing all three of them have done is watch their predecessors. So they watched Brisker closely, they watched Tig closely. Not that they have the same games, but they all saw the work ethic. They saw how they practiced, they saw how they competed. And kudos to them that they (know what they have to do). The work ethic, the competing part, the toughness in order to play. They know I’m going to allow them to be them. That’s why they have different names. They’re not Brisker, they’re not Tig. They’re Reed. They’re Wheatley, and I allow them to be them, but it’s a certain standard of how aggressive, how tough, and how competitive we’re going to play. They all bought into it and just watching them, you’re like a proud papa when you see the guys, they’re trying to set a new standard for the safety room here.
ON YOUNG SAFETIES ADJUSTING TO ANDY KOTELNICKI’S OFFENSE
It cut down on a lot of the moving pieces. Obviously, we have a unique offensive style. (Kotelnicki) brings a unique offensive style. It really helped them going against West Virginia because West Virginia had a few things that they did similar to our offense. Not as too the extreme as our offense does them. But, now, you get into game planning, you cut some calls out, the playbook isn’t as big, you can really focus on what that team likes to do. In training camp and in spring ball, offensively and defensively, we’re putting the whole playbook in and you really don’t carry the whole playbook in each week. So it helps streamline once you get to game week, you can just drill down on what the offense really is trying to do, what their favorite plays are, and it just helps the kids. And we then drill down on what plays we want to run. So it kind of just shrinks everything down to a manageable size for them.
ON WHAT CBs A.J. HARRIS, JALEN KIMBER HAVE ADDED TO SECONDARY
Kimber, he just brings that experience, that veteran leadership.He’s not a very talkative guy, but you can see how he plays. Plays with a confidence, plays with an aura about him that ‘I’ve been in big games, this isn’t too big for me.’ He’s not a panicky kid. He’s very calm and collected at corner. A.J. brings that pit bull (intensity), he’s just very competitive, he’s very tough. He really wants to be the best. You can see it every day, and I knew once both of those guys got locked into our system and knew what we were expecting, they were going to be really good players for us and we’re definitely happy we got both of them.
ON VABOUE TOURE, LAMONT PAYNE
Vaboue, he’s coming along every day. He’s a younger player just trying to learn how to be a college football player. Obviously, high school and college are very different, but he’s coming along. He’s very intelligent. He really can pick up stuff quickly. Now, for him, it’s like playing at a college-level speed every play. Not that he doesn’t have the ability to do it, it’s just, you’re not in high school anymore. You can’t let up off the gas. That’s kind of the same thing with Payne. It’s just a certain urgency in which you have to play at this level. And I always tell the guys, ‘We (the secondary) give up points.’ The D-line doesn’t give up points, the linebackers don’t give up points. We’re the last line of defense, I guess that’s why they call us safeties. People should feel safe around us, and you have to play with a certain urgency and a certain mindset. You can’t have lapses. You’re going to get beat, I understand that. But you have to always know that I have to be full-throttle, urgent in everything I do, and they’re learning it. I’m not shocked at where both of them are at. You know, it’s a process of playing safety. Obviously, with Payne moving from corner to safety, a lot of people think that’s an easy jump. It’s really not. It’s really, you’re looking at the game from a totally different angle, you have a lot more on your plate as far as communication, you’re really almost the quarterback of the defense. So both of them are progressing. Hopefully, as this year goes, we get them closer and closer to ready to play in the games.”
